Trump sent in meetings with Putin on Kremlin interpreters to end the war in Ukraine

Moscow President Donald Trump's special representative broke out with a long-term protocol by not using his own interpreter during three High-level meetings with Russia's Vladimir Putin, who instead rely on translators of the Kremlin, said an American official and two western officials with knowledge of the talks NBC News.

Steve Witkoff, who was negotiated with Putin in Moscow on February 11th in Moscow on the end of the war in Ukraine, on February 11th and April 11th in St. Petersburg and “used her translators,” said one of the western civil servants. “When they talk to each other in Russian, he doesn't know what they say,” added the officer and referred to Putin and the interpreter.

Witkoff, a former real estate mogul and cryptocurrency dealer, does not speak Russian. By using Kremlin interpreters, he directed the risk that some of the shades in Putin's news were overlooked, and he had not been able to check what was said regardless, said two former American ambassadors.

Anna Kelly, a deputy press spokesman for the White House, said in a statement that Witkoff “” fell “all security protocols in coordination with the Foreign Ministry. Witkoff's team did not answer. Both the Foreign Ministry and the Kremlin were also asked for a comment.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Putin started his invasion in Ukraine in February 2022. Trump sat down on the end of the war on “Day one” and made it one of his top priorities. Putin has now shown little interest in the end of the conflict and in the broadcast on Sunday in Russia's nuclear ability when he spoke to ending the war.

The Russian guide, which is known that he speaks some English, communicates during the negotiations by an interpreter and when he carries out official meetings. At a meeting with Witkoff on April 25th, he was flanked by his special consultant Yuri Ushakov, who worked as a Russia's ambassador in the United States between 1998 and 2008, and Kirill Dmitriev, his special representative for investment and economic cooperation. Putin's team started an interpreter.

A short video about the meeting that the Kremlin has released shows a smiling Witkoff that penetrates the room alone before he shook his hand, which also shines largely. Witkoff does not seem to be accompanied by consultants or experts who usually support American officials who carry out sensitive and complicated negotiations.

When a woman connected Witkoff on his side of the table, he pointed to her and said: “Interpreters? From the message? Ok.”

Kelly, the deputy press spokeswoman for the White House and the Witkoff team, did not identify the woman when they were asked by NBC News. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US message in Moscow and the Kremlin were also asked for a comment.

Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia, said that the use of the Kremlin interpreter was “a very bad idea” that Witkoff brought “real disadvantages”.

“I speak Russian and heard Kremlin interpreters and US interpreters at the same meeting, and the language is never the same,” said McFaul on Wednesday by e -mail.

A US interpreter ensures a more precise written report on the meeting for the rest of the government, which is known as Memorandum of Conversation or “Memcon”, said McFaul, now a professor of political science at Stanford University.

“At the end of every meeting that I took part, I recalculated the interpreter to make sure that we heard everything correctly to do the” Memcom “just right. You can't do that with a Russian official,” he added.

If you do not have detailed notes on the meetings, other high -ranking members of the Trump government, such as Foreign Minister Marco Rubio and Trump's special representative in Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, can lead to the promotion of discussions, KEITH KELLOGG, said McFaul.

“How does Kellogg know what Witkoff agreed with Putin?

Witkoff's handling of sensitive information when he plays a key role to try not only the war in Ukraine, but also the conflict in Gaza and the nuclear deal with Iran, have also raised the eyebrows.

Witkoff's aircraft, with which he flies to Russia for the meetings, is not equipped with a secure government communication system, including two western officials, including one who was previously cited in this article. However, the officials said that he made sensitive calls from the US message before entering the plane and had a safe cell phone.

NBC News turned to the National Security Council of the White House for a comment and was referred to Witkoff's team that did not react. The Foreign Ministry was also asked for a comment.

Witkoff's efforts seem to have led to the end of the war, at least from Russia's side.

A proposal that Trump should meet Putin on his trip to Saudi Arabia next week, according to two administrative officials and a US official familiar with the planning, did not move to an armistice on an armistice. A meeting had dependent on Russia that agreed to an armistice in Ukraine, said the administrative officials.

A European civil servant said that the secret services on the maximum goals in the war in Ukraine are still obliged that Putin is still committed to maximalistic goals and has no interest in getting an amended agreement.

Putin previously said that he wants the Ukraine to withdraw from four regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – that Russia illegally annexed shortly after Ukraine's penetration in February 2022. He also insisted that Ukraine never protects Ukraine, which deals in the size of the Russian and the language, the Russian culture and language.

Since its last meeting with Witkoff, the White House has signed an “economic partnership” with Ukraine, which gives Washington access to some of the wars minerals and natural resources of the nation destroyed by the war.

“The Ukrainians were cooperative, flexible, supportive and striving to go forward, but the Russians were not,” said William Taylor, a former US ambassador to Ukraine and now a scholarship in the Atlantic Council Think Tank and added that it “Standard, Grund Practice that they have their own interpreter”.

The Ukraine, he said, had agreed to US proposals for a comprehensive air, sea and land rescue, while it expanded a ceasefire on black -sea shipping routes.

A “term sheet” with 22 suggestions, including a 30-day ceasefire, was created by American, European and Ukrainian negotiators.

“If Putin has a way out, here is his way out,” said the official about the suggestions. Witkoff has to introduce it to the Russian president, added.

In comments that were published on Sunday, Putin said that Russia had sufficient strength and resources to bring the war in Ukraine into its logical conclusion, although he hoped that there was no need to use nuclear weapons.

In a film of state television entitled “Russia, Kremlin, Putin, 25 years,” he said, “it was not necessary to use these weapons … and I hope that they are not needed.”

Keir Simmons reported from Moscow. Carol Lee, Dan de Luce and Courtney Kube reported from Washington, DC